Battle of Ilium
The Battle of Ilium was a decisive space battle above Jupiter. The combined forces of the Moon Lords and the Rising under Generals Romulus au Raa and Darrow au Andromedus defeated the Sovereign's Sword Armada under the command of Roque au Fabii. Background Months before the Battle of Illium, Sevro and the Rising captured a significant portion of the Jackal's fleet on Phobos while Darrow and Mustang gained the support of the Martian Obsidians along with nearly all of their warriors. Darrow knows that the Rim is severely losing their war for independence and it is only a matter of time before they sue for peace which would leave the Rising as the sole target for combined forces of the Society. So instead of an invasion of Luna or Mars, Darrow burns for Jupiter in hopes of destroying the Sword Armada and keeping the Rim's resources out of the hands of the Sovereign. At the time of the Battle of Ilium, the Rising fleet consisted of 4 dreadnoughts, 50 torchShips, 50 destroyers, and about 8 other capital ships for a total of 112 capital ships, along with thousands of ripWings. Prelude While Darrow was thought dead, Mustang joined her forces with those of the Moon Lord's. Despite their losses to Roque, she has maintained a good relationship with the Rim's leaders. Using this connection, Mustang and Darrow arrange talks with the leader of the Moon rebellion, Romulus au Raa. Arriving at the Raa's estate however, the two find Roque also in attendance. Romulus pits the two factions against each other, promising to lend his forces to whomever offers better terms. Despite Darrow promising to leave the Moons out of the Rising and even go as far as to give up the name of any Sons of Ares cells in the outer worlds, Roque is easily able to offer the better terms to Romulus au Raa. However, Darrow wins the proud Lord’s favor by bringing up the fact that Romulus’s own niece was slain at Darrow’s triumph at the order of the Sovereign as Roque looked on, and reminding the Moon Lord of the destruction of Rhea whose memory can be seen in the sky every day. Darrow also shares with the Moon Lords the intel he got from Cassius about the nuclear warheads in the asteroid belt between the Core and Rim. Roque claims no knowledge of these weapons, but regardless, The Moon Lords rightly assume that the Sovereign stored these weapons there so that they may be easily grabbed by any fleet on the way to put down a rebellion in the Rim. Romulus declares a blood feud between himself and Roque and joins his forces with Darrow. Battle Darrow knows that Roque will be expecting a head strong attack from the famously rash Reaper of Mars. He uses this fact against his old friend as he starts the attack on the Sword Armada. Using his own Flagship, the Pax, as a sort of Trojan Horse, Darrow plunges himself right into the middle of the Sword Armada. Roque expectedly launches his leech craft at the Pax, but ends up only sending the majority of his troops to an empty ship. Meanwhile Darrow launches his own attack against Roque's colossus. Instead of utilizing the small Leech Craft that only penetrate the outermost shell of a ship, the Reaper of Mars launches space-fitted ClawDrills at the head of dozens troop carriers. The drills are able to bore right into the Colossus, deploying scores of troops deep into the Sword Armada's flagship. After bloody corridor fighting, Darrow, Victra, Sefi, and Holiday as well as small group of Valkyries reach the Bridge but are stopped by a reinforced blast door. Mustang and Romulus are again losing to Roque in the space battle raging outside the Colossus' walls, and enemy teams are about trap Darrow against the bridge. However, the group manages to enter the Bridge when a pink slave of Roque’s opens the door to them. The space battle quickly starts turning its tide as Roque's attention is now drawn away. Darrow is unable to talk the noble Fabii down and the proud Gold kills himself citing the enduring honor of the Society. The Sword Armada’s fate is sealed when Sevro’s trap is sprung, pincer-ing a group of ships chasing Mustang. At the same time, Sevro ruins a similar plan of the Moon Lord's by collapsing the tunnel from which the Riim's ships would fly. Thsi move not only incapacitates a major group of Sword Armada ships but also ensures that they may be claimed by the Rising rather than the Rim. The battle turns decisive when Antonia retreats prematurely with her mother’s ships. Before broadcasting having taken control of the Colossus, Darrow orders the ship to target the docks of Ganymede, the main economic and militaristic bastion of the Moons. This barrage effectively destroys any ability of the Moon’s to wage war for at least the next decade, but also means Darrow's direct responsibility for the death of millions of lowColors. The new flagship of the Red Armada is christened “Morning Star.” Aftermath The conclusion of the Battle of Illuim saw the Rising's armada significant increased and the Society's space power effectively halved. It also ruined any hopes the Rim might have of ever attacking the core for at least the next decade. Victra is able to catch her sister, capturing both she and the ex-howler Thistle. With the external threat taken care of, Darrow now focuses on Mars and Luna. Category:Events Category:Battles